There are so many possible additions to a computer system that in general a driver must be written as a necessary part of creating a new piece of equipment or software.  Some, but not many, programs will run without new drivers.  Many drivers come preloaded with the operating system.  When you load an application for the first time, the installation places appropriate drivers on your computer (as well as bits and pieces elsewhere). Drivers often come as 'control panels', added to the system to customize some aspect of the hardware or application.

Drivers hook into the operating system to do their job.  Unfortunately, two active drivers will occasionally go for the same place, or after the same part of the computer's memory.  Although it's possible that two open applications may cause a crash this way, drivers are so variable that they are more likely to cause trouble.  This is the most common cause of computer crashes.  There's only one reliable way to cure it, and it can be tedious.  You turn as many off as needed until things work, then turn them on in groups or even one at a time until the program giving trouble exhibits the same behavior.  It's rare that two serious programs will not work together, but you might suffer the most obscure little extension file that will cause trouble for no apparent reason.  Try just turning it off; the relevant application or device will complain, or not function at all, if it misses it. Thankfully, such problems are lessening.

It's worth remembering that the definitions 'platform', 'application' and 'extension' can overlap. All of them are lines of code written to achieve something.  Like most things, it's all a bit runny at the edges.  The difference is in scale and the way they relate to each other, rather like rocks and mountains.  The definitions get even more blurred when you work with a program such as Microsoft Excel, where you can specify one quantity in a spreadsheet cell as the result of some operation on some others, such as adding two together.  Here, a file definitely overlaps with an application.  Again, we must remember that our definitions are not absolute, but rather for our general convenience.

The Big Help Desk
in suggested reading order (links are provided between pages)
all photos by Jonnie Miles

Other useful pages:
How to play music
Music playback options at the Stereo Society
Audio quality
Mono compatibility
MP3 Software Player Review (2001)
Surround Sound: An Introduction

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